Andrii Pleshu is not only a perfect stylist of the Romanian language. He is, above all, an original philosopher of morality, religion, politics, one of the true defenders of freedoms by which modernity is measured.

He is terrified of mediocrity. He hates fruitless chatter, pseudo-scientific chatter, lack of humor, constant crookedness. He knows how to laugh and likes to do it. I think we met in the summer of 1975. The fathers of our friendship were two Radus: art critics Radu Bohdan and Radu Shtern. Our discussions were as open as possible.

I remember the evening at Radu and Dali Bohdan’s, a dinner in 1980 for Victor Jeronim Stoichita. Viktor and I were once children together. Not in Primavera (I never lived in what Imre Toth called the “sacred perimeter”), but on Andrii Mureşanu Street at number 29. Katrinel Plešu, Gabriel Liicanu, Alexandru Paleologu were there. I came with my cousin Olga.

Without a doubt, Andriy Pleshu is an example of the condition of a critical intellectual in the post-communist world. Loved, admired, remembered and quoted by many, he is still a thorn in the side of those who hate dialogue and diversity. The directness of his writing, the rejection of euphemistic expressions when it comes to incompetence, sycophancy and unworthiness led to and still lead to disgusting attacks. The mobilization of resentment and envy shows how far the arrogance of those who cannot stand the power of true value can go.

Each of his articles is a call to decency, sophistication of thought and politeness.

Andrei is deeply tired of the state of continuous so-called moral nervousness, but he is undoubtedly annoyed by the sarcastic relativism of those for whom totalitarianism was (and is) nothing more than a historical trifle. He defends the right to the existence of frustrated skepticism, but remains a moralist as honest as he is clear: “There are moments when nothing needs to be done except what you felt from the first moment that you should do.

Any delay irreversibly suspends a healthy moral impulse. An excess of intelligence, psychoanalytic sophistication, the habit of finding excuses for everything, understanding everything dialectically, the talent, finally, to see relativity where innate insight easily separates good from evil — all these are certain prerequisites for the loss of moral spontaneity” (Minima moralia).

It is the emphasis on this moral spontaneity, on what the English call common sense, that brings Andrii Plesha closer to Raymond Aron, George Orwell, Arthur Koestler or Isaiah Berlin. First of all, Andrii Plesu is a man of dialogue, a high personality of Romanian culture, for whom such values ​​as trust and tolerance are fundamental. He does not tolerate any insults. He knows how to be condescending, but does not give in to principles. During the three decades and more that have passed since the fall of the dictatorship, Andrii Pleshu defended the values ​​of pluralism. Read more at Contributors.ro